Jersey Day

Coming into tonight’s game between 12-3-1 Bedford and the 9-7 Hanover Marauders, everyone knew this would be a good one.  Bedford has historically (well in the last decade) been the class of the NHIAA, and although a little down this year, the sight of those black uniforms can be as intimidating as a meeting with coach Dodds explaining why you were cutting social studies class.  But the two teams have always been similar – classy on the ice and off, incredible coaching, skilled players.  Throw in the fact that Bedford has won three out of the last four state titles, and you get a little jealous of them – plus they even have a Trader Joes now.

But Hanover has been peaking of late with strong performances against Exeter and especially Trinity in their last two.  And the two sides had already done battle once before this year with the Bulldogs taking a Christmas tournament scorcher 2-1 only 8 weeks ago. So it was anyone’s guess how this one would play out.  But one thing was for certain – Hanover had to win the special teams match-ups and stay out of the sin bin, an especially hard task as their recent strong play has been inversely related to their plummeting in the standings for the team Lady Byng.

So before a good Campion crowd for a Wednesday, especially all of those girlfriends wearing their boys’ jerseys which I am sure did not help to maintain the testosterone level within the normal range, Hanover went toe-to-toe all evening long with the Bulldogs.  And with Ben Plottner standing on his head and keeping this one close, Hanover staked a 1-0 lead when Augie Oberting fired one in from the point and was tipped downward by a screening Rowan Wilson just 4:02 in.  But as has been so often this season, Hanover could not capitalize on multiple good opportunities and this would be the last goal of the night for the locals.  And it was the four penalties that hurt hem so badly on the other side, with Bedford knotting up the score 50 seconds into the second and then going ahead in the third on the man-up at 5:57.  A empty netter at the end sealed the deal with a 3-1 victory of the visitors.

With the loss, Hanover drops to 9-8 on the season with Brady on Saturday night for a senior night send-off – then its playoff time starting next week.  I suggest having the moms wear the jerseys from now on – nothing that curbs a teenage boys testosterone more than that.

See you at the Rink…

   

Trifecta

      After tonight’s NHIAA MMA rumble between the Hanover Marauders and the Trinity Pioneers a few truths have now come into complete clarity.  For one, these two teams absolutely despise each other and it is fortunate that the Saint Anselm Sullivan Arena benches are on the opposite sides of the ice.  Second, truth one is exaggerated when one team beats the other three times and is responsible for 60% of said team’s total season losses.  Third, while one team believes in the whole Book, another puts all of their faith into the third Gospel guy who never disappoints.  And fourth, the whole of NHIAA Division 1 had better pay attention, because Dick Dodds and his staff have Hanover absolutely on overdrive heading into the final week of the season.

     Into cavernous Sullivan Arena, with its multicolored college banners reminding the Saint Anselm students of all the places they didn’t get into college before enrolling, the Marauders and Pioneers squared off for the third time this season.  And as he always is, there was Luke Ives between the pipes for the Marauders, who has killed more Pioneers than a Sierra Nevada winter.  Then the puck dropped and for the first 15 minutes, this one looked like Ives and Marauders were going to get slapped right back up I-89.  The Pioneers were devastating, and at one point they remained in the Hanover defensive zone for nearly four minutes hammering Ives and the beleaguered defense.  They even had a goal disallowed for a high sticking call deep into the first.  But Hanover held, and as the choppiness escalated, they walked into first intermission on the man-up.

      And the second did not diasspoint.  With at times making the Ali vs Frazier series seem like a pillow fight, the teams got progressively more and more physical…and paid the price in penalty time.  However, just a few minutes in, Jack Stadheim drove the corner and won the puck back to Patrick Daly whose cross-ice pass to linemate Spencer Lawes set up a perfect rope from deep and it was the sophomore stud putting Hanover up 1-0.  Now the lead nearly evaporated 30 second later with a pissed Trinity team hitting Ives’s post, but Carter Auch, with his first score of the year, took a pass from Augie Oberting soon thereafter and rifled it in from close to put Hanover up 2-0 just 2:38 in.  As it got more and more physical, Ives got better and better, and made a specialty on the night of getting checked into his net yet making goal line pad saves while being horizontal.  And just when that crucial third goal seemed to be destined for Trinity, Curtis Rice shut down those Trinity prayers and took an ill-fated outlet pass unassisted and stuffed home the breakaway to make it 3-0 Marauders heading in the third.

       And it sure was one heckuva third period between roughing penalties, acrobatics by Ives, Pioneer fans losing their composure, and what we are sure were escalating pleasantries exchanged between the boys on the ice.  And even when Trinity cut it to 3-1, there was no way Ives would relinquish the lead. Pulling the goalie with three minutes left, Trinity was able to punch one in at 14:58 to make it a one-goal game, but the horn sounded, with Hanover taking home the 3-2 victory.

      So with their best win of the season, Hanover climbs to 9-7 (11-8 overall) with a big one against Bedford in 48 hours and then senior night on Saturday.   Hanover now becomes the team that no one sitting above them in the standings wants to tangle with in the playoffs – lots of seniors on their farewell tour, the best coaching staff in the business (I mean forget about moving Curtis to forward – the real genius is using Frozen 2 for motivation – move over Scotty Bowman!) and completely peaking when it matters. Look out NHIAA, the Marauders are dealin now.

       See you at the rink…

Almost

      In the month since we last saw the Exeter Blue Hawks put a licking on the Hanover Marauders 7-1 at Campion, the teams seem to have gone in different directions.  While Exeter had vaulted to the upper echelon of the NHIAA standings with an 11-2-2 record, Hanover had come down to earth a bit and sat in seventh place at 8-6 coming in to today’s contest.  But the Marauders had demonstrated that they have the grit to beat anyone – as victories over Trinity, Pinkerton and a close game with Bedford could attest.   So with the melodies of Frozen 2 ringing in their ears, the one question on everyone’s mind was whether Hanover could take that game from January 8th and just let it go in this one and put a pounding on the Blue Hawks.

      So the puck dropped just before the 3:00 pm at the site of the infamous danglergate incident and off we went to start the last week of the 2019-20 regular season. And from the beginning this was a different Hanover team. Shortened bench, more get-up in the skate, really putting the Blue Hawks on their heels. You had the captain narrowly avoiding assault charges as he laid out two Exeter defenders on the fore check, Brendan Brigham almost notching one from the point and Ben Plottner stoning all of the few opportunities he faced.  So with the period ending at 0-0 tie with no penalties, Hanover having blanked the potent senior-laden first line of the Blue Hawks, there was sense of good things coming for the locals as they stepped back on the cavernous Supreme rink. Hanover even outshot the Blue Hawks 8-5.

      And into the second it went with a fired-up Hanover team giving the Blue Hawks every bit as much as they took.  A dubious interference call on Exeter had the Marauders on the man-up midway through the period and then on a boarding penalty that in any venue other than a hockey arena would be a case of felonious assault against a minor, Hanover went up on the 5-3.  However, they could not put it home (and narrowly avoided giving up a shorthanded breakaway goal thanks to Plottner) and it was the Blue Hawks who got on the board first just before the second period intermission to make it 1-0.

      Back and forth they went in the third before Cam Woods drove deep into the far corner and passed back to a waiting Jack Stadheim whose rifle ricocheted off of the Exeter net minder to a waiting Curtis Rice who finished it calmly to tie it at 1-1.  And it stayed that way…for about 30 seconds…as an odd-man rush beat Plottner to make it 2-1.  And they battled and battled - the Exeter speed vs the Hanover grinders – and with Hanover pulling for the extra man late, Exeter iced with an empty-netter 3-1. Shots on goal 20-17 Exeter - yeah it was that close.

     So what do you take from this one?  Well Hanover was close and proved they can compete with anyone on their away ice.  They will need that grit as they continue the gauntlet against Trinity and then Bedford next week.  Sitting at 8-7, it will be huge to have the chance to host a home playoff game – a chance that probably comes with winning two out of the last three.  Maybe all it will take is some more team bonding to get us there – Toy Story 4 boys?

     See you at the rink…